Kyle Devitte is with the Inside Lacrosse crew in Annapolis. Below is his instant analysis from Hamilton's 11-9 win.

Nationals

Offense

One would think, and by one I mean me, that the Canadian players on the Nationals would be crippled by their relative lack of experience in the elements. One/I would think wrong. The Nationals really went to town in the rain, racking up an early lead that they would never relinquish.

It wasn’t as if any player had a particularly dominant game on offense — but everyone got in on the act. Eight different Hamilton players found the back of the net. That unselfishness was what lead to the victory according to Hamilton coach Regy Thorpe. “Our offense really clicked in that first quarter then we took our foot off the gas, but we came back and finished strong.” He added, “We’re really proud of the guys and looking forward to playing Boston.”

It was Boltus who really put the game away with back-to-back goals at the end of the first and beginning of the second half. His game MVP was well deserved.

Defense

The name of the game for Hamilton was to stop Brendan Mundorf, according to Thorpe. “Obviously Mundorf has two big games against us dropping 19 on us, Peet and Max up top were our concerns. Both goalies played well for us.”

Hamilton also managed to take care of several of Denver’s deep threats, including Brian Langtry, Drew Westervelt and Peet Poillon, who combined for 2 goals total. The Nationals took advantage of Denver’s poor transition play — due in large part to the rain — and slowed the game down in the second half to suit their style of play.

The Nationals let the Outlaws take their runs, and shots, on their own terms, limiting their range to goal and allowing Denver to take medium to long range bombs. Still, Denver was limited to a pitiful 27 shots, of which 15 were on cage.

Outlaws

Offense

Billy Bitter had himself quite a game for the Outlaws. The plan for the Nationals from the get-go was to limit Brendan Mundorf's effectiveness, and the Nationals did that by putting both Brodie Merrill and Kye Rubisch on him at different times.

Bitter took advantage of Hamilton’s refusal to double him until he dodged himself right onto the crease and bagged a hat trick. Denver didn’t see much of the ball in the first half as Hamilton clung to its possessions by backing up shots that hit the goalkeeper and reset the shot clock. When the Outlaws did get possession they settled for too many shots at the edge of each player’s maximum distance.

Denver head coach Tom Slate said: “They came out and they played sharp. They made us not play our best game offensively.”

Defense

The Outlaws defense had no real answer for Hamilton’s ability to get to cage. The conditions were not necessarily conducive for the Nationals’ regular style of quick ball movement, but their midfielders found their way to the cage after Denver’s poles and D-mids slid and fell down repeatedly.

Still, Denver slid too early to compensate and were burned by the Nationals’ finishers in tight. Guys like David Earl, Jordan Hall and Jeremy Boltus made the most of all their chances. Coach Slate remarked that “Offensively they made us play their game. They switched on Brendan [Mundorf] really quick and there was some question about spacing and tried to make other guys beat them.”

When asked about the weather, coach Slate commented: “Once you start playing you don’t even think of it. It affected both teams, maybe it does help them with their pick-and-roll offense, but I’m not blaming the game on that.”